Of Woods and Witches

Ah, the wilderness...

The night is clear and the moon is new, providing very little light. Yet life thrives the most in darkness, the moist, cool air refreshing plant and animal alike from the heat of the day. As mist rises over the forest, activity starts to grow in an exponential rate. Creatures, both small and large, leave their nests in search of food and water and their predators are not far behind. Meanwhile, vultures prepare to feast on the remains. Plants and the like bringing life from nothingness, only in order to be consumed by heterotrophic organisms. Which, in turn, will just for them to become prey themselves in a never ending cycle.

Such is the tranquility of nature. The sweet mixture of death and decay, of new life and growth. Though my senses are based purely on magic, since timber in varying states of decay is a poor material to create complex sensory organs from, the smell of raw, untamed life, struggling for existence still fills me. A noble struggle, a fight to shatter the stillness, the void and fill it with sound and movement, and being. A struggle that I am bound to protect.

I just wish I could tell that to the life around me. But the only interaction between me and them is the bits of their life force fueling my being, only to be radiated back into my surroundings. Oh, to feel the thrill of the hunt, what joy would that be, putting all your might and ability into a few moments of heightened meaning. To kill and to be killed, strengthening being, filling the world with life, just like the rest of nature . But to truly protect life, you must be outside of it.

The chaotic struggle reigns around me, as I start to channel my being, reaching out and touching my surroundings, feeling every bit of life. From the tiny ants marching around the ground a small distance away from me, to the ages old tree right besides me, struggling to draw in some water into its old branches, to the decaying torso, the source of the ant march. Radiating life, creating opportunity. So much substance...I do not take much. Could not call it taking, really, my being only acquires that which is given freely by life, before radiating it back. The green flame that composes my being is rekindled with new strength, and I also draw in a loose branch from the old tree. He will not have to try and heal it in a futile effort, and my form grows a little heavier.

Fully prepared, I bring my searing, grass green orbs to life. Not too good for acquiring any information not based on the emission of magic, but enough to get by in the wilderness. The world around me starts to show it and the night is bright, filled with energy, flowing all around me, from deep within the soil to the highest branches of the tallest trees. It flows and flows in an eternal motion. Yet, something is off. The strand of raw life is altered some distance to the North, a sickening black thread in the midst of all the magic flowing around. I finish feeding and start moving to investigate. The flows of wild magic can be used and molded, only to be released at some later point, but corrupted? That is the work of some evil, outside force. Cancerous growths happen, yes, but they are always naturally eradicated, for corruption to persist for more than a mere moment, something must truly be off. Something from outside life has interfered.

I pick up the pace, creatures of all shapes and sizes giving not a thought towards my form, as I nimbly pace around them. What interest could I be to anything that is not keen on consuming cellulose, or some leaves? But most such animals prefer stationary prey. While I try to avoid breaking anything or anyone, some bug or branch still falls in my wake, the downside of such a heavy, strong form. Yet, if the source of corruption is what I think it is, I might be wise to buff up my build further, before tracking it down. My decision made, I make a slight detour of the optimal path to the altered threads, to a decently sized, decaying carcass of a tree. A fallen oak, rather young, victim to some disaster. I touch it with both my body and my being, feeling around for sections that are not in too much of a decay, and not inhabited by any critters. I do not want to bring them into danger, nor disturb their home. Thankfully, there is a lot of wood that fits my criteria, and I add it to my body.

Now, greatly enhanced and ready for any course of action, I pick up the trail again, following the damaged thread as it ripples through the air. The colors of it are a bit off – instead of the usual mix of vibrant, strong, colours, there is a touch of corruption, parts of the thread bending erratically, hardly pulsing and being stained with a deep, corrupting black.

I take in a large batch of air to process, yet can find no traces of a foreign entity. Not that it would matter, the thread will lead to it, the direction it is going having no large obstacles – a small river or two, some thick growths, nothing that could force me to to leave my body behind. Besides, my sense of smell is an auxiliary function that I devote very little energy to. Some other guardians might disagree, but I prefer sight to all other senses.

As I proceed, the damaged thread becomes more and more infested with the deep, corrupting black. I have picked the correct direction, not that there was any doubt. No intruder dares to linger for long, rightfully so. All of us, guardians, do not take kindly to intruders that would seek to damage the wilderness itself. Any are welcome to make home, to try and carve a niche for themselves, in the eternal dance. But to try to destroy the wilderness? Such an atrocity can not be permitted.

And, finally, a small trek further, I find what I was tracking. An abomination, riddled with the unique shade of corrupted black, with a small glitter to it, same colour as the damaged thread. Emitting no real magic, the ripples of life actively avoiding it, flowing around it instead. Yet, capable of some evil kind of magic, to be able to alter it. And the damaged thread leading right to its horn, the focal point of its ability to warp magic so. Not being part of the forest, it is painfully oblivious to the goings of life around, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. My body is made mostly of fresh wood, some greenwood even, giving off very little scent and my steps are silent, despite my considerable size and weight. I mountain over the abomination, being more than five times the length, and at least two times the height. And I have the element of surprise.

”This would be an easy kill.” I think to myself, ”but the damage is not too large, and purifying so much corrupted flesh so close to the edge would be taxing.”

Suddenly, the horn of the alien starts to glow in focused magic, drawn from its body. I doubt it has sensed me, but I take a silent stop anyway, and observe. The thing reaches out with its weird magic – I can make out some threads that other animals create, probably from the thread that was partially absorbed into the being, but most of the magic in the flow is foreign to me. The magic surrounds a small, wild apple growing on a nearby apple tree and yanks it clean off, before dragging it towards some part of the entity. The fruit is swallowed whole in a construction at its sides, getting corrupted slightly more with each passing moment in the unnatural magic. And the apple tree...I see a few threads in the flow created by it change, slightly, becoming a bit darker. Nothing that would not heal in a few hours, though.

The tree will be able to cure itself, but this abomination must be stopped from corrupting anything else! This area is not far from the edge, and I am approaching from the correct side to chase it out, should I choose to not kill it. And the amount of power needed to purge such amounts of corruption would make a non-lethal approach more suitable. Then again, mayhaps chasing it out and then finishing it off would be a wiser approach? At any rate, I must act soon, before any more energies of life become tainted.

I use up some of my being to brew up a cocktail of smells – from the scents of large predators, to those from decaying carcasses, with a mist of droplets fused with wild magic. A brew that would make most living beings experience quite the fear, leap out and unleash this cloud right into the direction of the alien. I want to fill it with adrenaline and some fear, to get it to run, should my size and appearance not be enough. Fighting and causing any damage to the environment is a rookie mistake that I would avoid if at all possible. First chase, and then kill, instead of killing and then having to drag the body either outside of the forest, or to the Source.

The being shouts and screams in a high-pitched tone, before galloping away from me, though at an angle towards the edge of the forest.

Right now I have to escort it to the edge. I draw in a lot of the wild magic flowing around, as I start to give chase. Being so saturated with energy I could fly by the being and annihilate it in a blink, but that is not my goal. Instead, I merely keep up with its rather mediocre pace. Most creatures of comparable size run faster, but, then again, this being is probably not considered food by most creatures, being so filled with taint, leading to underdeveloped speed. Mayhaps it uses magic as an effective means of defense as well.

The edge draws nearer still, the rippling life giving way to a world of darkness. And the alien, mayhaps hoping for some aid, unleashes a huge shriek, just as it clears the final trees and steps into the plain. No doubt hoping to attract some of its kind to help, as if its fate was not sealed, should I choose to kill here and now.

I intend to give a chase a little further still, despite it being harder to see in this world of perpetual dark, weak magic, to keep the taint away from the last ripples emanating from the forest. I start to fine tune the state of my teeth, shaping them to penetrate deep enough to cause some severe damage, but not to have it hard to remove from my jaw. Perhaps greatly wounding the creature would be better than killing it, it would most likely crawl some distance away before dying. And the corpse would make others of its kind vary.

However, not too far off, near a large growth of corrupted apple trees there are six more of the abominations, their black, corrupt magic flowing in and about. They start to turn towards us, probably being alerted by my preys shrieks. One of them already starts to channel some of its magic into its wings, taking to the sky, and the horned ones start charging up as well, as the most basic ones start to make way towards me. It would be a shame to waste my body out here, and, however small the risk, I do not want to get corrupted. I quickly turn around, and make a charge back, this time at a real speed.

As I charge through the grassy plain back towards the endlessly rippling forest, filled with life, I feel some bits of the horned ones corrupt magic reach me, taking hold of bits of my body. Discarding them would be an option, but I just sever their connection with a strong surge of power. No way they could contain my levels of power at this distance. I need not turn my head to see the flying one approaching me at a dashing speed. I can see through the timber composing me, how its magic flows out through its wings, interacting with the air, weaving some taint into it as it absorbs magic and bends it, to go faster and faster. But my body, still quite fresh, can withstand incredible speeds, and I leave it in the dust. It will, most probably, not dare enter the forest, but still. I slow down, prepared to turn around and ambush. But it must have sensed that it stands no chance here.

I slow my pace and look for a nearby focal point of magic. A small pond, some distance away, serves as such, and I step near it. I draw in magic near me, condense it, and use it to inspect my being for any corruption. But pure, raw magic life force like mine is resistant to any kind of magic, and part of this resistance has rubbed off on to the wood my body is composed of, no traces of corruption. Still, the magic that creature used was oddly familiar-ish, and such feelings might be caused by corruption. So my next task is clear - to meditate on this problem, right after I finish reducing my body and placing the bits and pieces where it would do most good. It would be too hard to upkeep such a drain, maintaining a huge body and meditating, even near such strong magic. And would be a shame to just drop all the excess timber to rot, variety is a sign of life.

As I start to flow out and around, I first utilize my new found freedom to check for any intrusion into the flow of magic nearby. But all is clear, if I am corrupted, I am not damaging the surroundings yet.

I do not take too long, surging through the ripples of life all around me, racing to find another guardian. It does not take too long, there are a few of us around, must be that the intruders try their luck often at this edge. It is hard to maintain one self while flowing with the nature, let alone pass a message, but I am a very strong, and, with some concentration I manage to touch a fellow guardian, as he patrols along some small stream.

”Meet me at the pond to the southwest.”

No long words are needed. If a guardian needs help, other guardians will provide it. My goal reached, I start to pull my being together from all the strands I had sent out. I am not in too much of a hurry, I doubt a guardian would spend too much energy speeding for such a request. Still, best not waste time making him wait, and I am not in need of much energy.

My body is just where I left it, a few smaller twigs having moved a bit, most probably due to some breeze of wind. I put it together to my liking, and wait. I can soon see the ripples growing a little bit brighter, not far from me, and in no time at all a guardian has arrived.

As soon as he is in range, I connect to him and ask, ”I have come into contact with some corruption, and thoughts concerning corrupted magic triggers thoughts that it should not. I was unable to locate any taint within myself, scan me for any traces of it.”

Without any response I feel myself torn, as the fellow guardian surges his being, to observe me closely, running along several threads, whole sections of my magic, at a time.

”You do not appear to be tainted. Thought processes tend to deteriorate so close to the edge. You would do wise to return to the Source”

And with that being said, he turns to return to his patrol further North.

”So no corruption, and an uneasy feeling, most unusual," I think to myself.

I could just return closer to the source, my great might compared to most guardians did make me welcome as a personal guardian to the Source. However, the edges might have more need of me. I might just go exploring into the darkness, a feat no lesser guardian could manage. Then again, should I get corrupted and fall, that would be a much larger loss than a rookie guardian.

I start patrolling the area, while I try to make up my mind.

The risks are great, indeed. But what if these abominations are sending out scouts or scribes, to study the wilderness, to taint it and corrupt it and bind to their will? Information is a great asset, and scouting them out would bring lots of it. The weaker guardians mostly patrolling the edges have no chance out there, but I might.

While the risks are great and life does not belong to me to be wasted so easily, mere observation should be possible. A short trek, in and out, and see how much information can be gathered. Then decide if the gains are worth the risk and go from there.

”Good, decided,” I think to myself, ”about time I did something that might pose a threat to myself.”

To do this properly, I will need a lot of power. And entering into the darkness from where I so recently met seven whole abominations would also not be wise. Best head on out from some other point in the edge, and stock up on a lot of energy on the path, and take the trek slow – they might be more alert after the recent incident, best not to attempt anything until some days have passed.

”Yes,” I think to myself, ”and use the time to go in a bit deeper and power myself up to full capacity, a wise course of action. Perhaps ask the Source for some help and advice too.”

And with that, I pick up a slow pace towards the beating heart of the forest.